Alabama

No sign of two hunters missing on Tensaw River

(Press-Register/Bill Starling) Members of Daphne Search and Rescue and Alabama Marine Police put in at Cliff's Landing on the Tensaw River in Baldwin County Monday, Dec. 7, 2009 after being out on the river searching for two hunters, missing since Sunday, whose canoe was found half full of water. BAY MINETTE, Ala. -- An all-day search Monday ended with no sign of two Baldwin County hunters whose canoe was found Sunday afternoon drifting on the Tensaw River, authorities said.

Alan Clemmons, 29, and Jason Brown, 23, both from the Hurricane Bayou community north of Bromley, were last seen about 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Gravine Island in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, said Matt Burton, a spokesman for the North Baldwin Sheriff's Search and Rescue squad.

According to family members, the men had left about 12:30 p.m. Sunday and planned to return that evening after a hunting trip, Burton said.

Their canoe was found at Cloverleaf Landing, nearly two miles south of the island, at about 5 p.m. Sunday, Burton said, prompting the search that by Monday afternoon involved about 35 people, 10 boats and a helicopter.

The operation coordinated from Cliff's Landing in Crossroads also involved the Alabama Marine Police, U.S. Coast Guard, Mobile Sheriff's Flotilla, Daphne Search and Rescue Squad and several individuals.

"We don't have any conclusion" about what happened to the men, Burton said earlier Monday. "We haven't found anything negative or positive."

The official search effort was called off Monday evening and was set to resume at 8 a.m. today, weather permitting, he said.

The canoe contained guns, an empty ice chest and what appeared to be a "little bit" of river water, Burton said. Authorities had not been able to determine whether the men had been drinking or had flotation devices, he added.

Coast Guard Sector Mobile sent a 41-foot rescue boat and crew from Station Dauphin Island and an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter and crew from Air Station New Orleans to help, according to a written statement.

Brent Shaver of Orange Beach, who often stays at a camp near Cliff's Landing, was hoping for the best, but said he is familiar with the dangers of the Delta after boating, fishing and hunting in the area for nearly 50 years.

Overnight temperatures Sunday were in the mid-40s and that, coupled with a fall into the water, could lead to hypothermia, he said.

"They were in a canoe -- gosh. This water gets so treacherous," said Shaver as he docked his boat Monday afternoon at Cliff's Landing.